Business Briefs

Prudential Financial Inc. announced that Buddy Benton, an agent with an office located at 981 Route 33, Suite A, Monroe, has qualified for membership in the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT).

MDRT membership is based on excellence in customer sales and service. Founded in 1927, MDRT is an independent association of approximately 28,000 of the world’s insurance and investment financial services professionals who have met strict ethical and professional requirements. The organization is internationally recognized and its members represent 68 nations and territories and some 475 life insurance companies.

Benton, a resident of Millstone, is one of 900 Prudential sales professionals who qualified for MDRT this year. MDRT recently reported that Prudential Insurance Co. of America had the fourth highest number of MDRT qualifiers, based on membership levels of insurance companies worldwide.

Geller & Co., a finance, accounting, procurement and tax outsourcing firm, announced the opening on May 17 of an office at 70 Wood Avenue in Iselin.

Joseph Gitto, 41, a resident of Marlboro, has been promoted to head the New Jersey office. He has been a senior member of Geller & Co.’s Emerging Business Group since he joined the firm two years ago. His assignments to date have included acting as CFO for a variety of Geller & Co.’s public and private clients. For the preceding 18 years, he worked with public and private small to midsize companies in the role of CFO, controller and financial consultant.

Gitto earned a bachelor of science degree in accounting and finance from Baruch College, New York. He and his family reside in the Morganville section of Marlboro.

Geller & Co., a New York-based business process outsourcing firm founded in 1984, offers finance, accounting, procurement and tax outsourcing solutions to the private equity community, serving a wide range of clients including emerging businesses, major global organizations, middle market companies and private equity firms. The company employs financial and accounting professionals including financial analysts, accountants, financial planners, procurement experts, tax specialists, attorneys, systems experts and bookkeepers.

Michael B. Mangini, a Freehold attorney, has been awarded a certificate of recognition in advanced estate planning by The American College, Bryn Mawr, Pa., for successfully completing three, three-credit courses in the college’s master of science in financial services degree curriculum. The American College is not an ABA-approved certifying entity. The program requires successful completion of advanced estate planning and personal income taxation. In addition to his juris doctor degree, Mangini also holds a certificate of recognition in business succession planning.

A graduate of Fordham University School of Law, former Army JAG officer and assistant Monmouth County prosecutor, Mangini devotes his practice to developing asset protection and transfer strategies for his clients, their families and businesses. He is pursuing the American College’s CAP (Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy) designation.